Security system for a vehicle

ABSTRACT

A security system for a vehicle in which the opening of any sealed door establishes an alert signal that is applied to a time delay controller that operates a pair of disabler devices to halt the vehicle at a preselected time interval after initiation of the alert signal. One disabler device shuts off fuel to the vehicle propulsion engine and the other disabler device activates the vehicle brakes.

ilnited States Patent 1 Fox [54] SECURITY SYSTEM FOR A VEHICLE 2,935,7305/1960 Procter...................... ....340/63 [76] Inventor: Ralph W.Fox, 116 Hallett Avenue,

Port Jefferson, NY.

Sept. 23, 1970 Primary Examiner-Alvin H. Waring Att0meyEvelyn M. Sommer[22] Filed:

ABSTRACT [52] lU.S. Cl. .......................340/63, 340/53, 180/114 Asecurity system for a vehicle in which the opening [51] Int. ....B60r25/10 of any sealed door establishes an alert signal that is ap-.340/63, 64, 65, 53, plied to a time delay controller that o disablerdevices to halt the vehicle 58 FieldofSearch.......:::..:::::::

perates a pair of at a preselected time interval after initiation of thealert signal. One disabler device shuts off fuel to the vehiclepropulsion engine and the other disabler device activates the vehiclebrakes.

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,639,897 2/l972Teich.....................................340/64 3,174,502 180/114 UX 5Claims, 1 Drawing Figure 3/1965 Howarth et al.

/ IZB IOI SECURITY SYSTEM FOR A VEHICLE BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THEINVENTION The present invention relates in general to security systemsfor motor vehicles and more particularly to a security system designedto prevent thefts and hijacking of trucks and other cargo carriervehicles.

There is an urgent need for an on-board security system that is capableof preventing the successful completion of a truck hijacking withoutendangering the driver and without being in any way under the control ofthe driver. In many typical truck hijackings, the hijacker enters thedrivers cab at the point of interception, removes the driver and thenthe truck is driven by the hijacker to a rendezvous for unloading ofcargo. Accordingly, the opening of any cab door at any time after thetruck has embarked on a non-stop haul and before it arrives at itsintended destination can be regarded as the occurrence of a securityhazard event.

The design of the vehicle security system of the invention is formulatedupon the basis that the opening of a cab door, or any sealed door of thevehicle constitutes a security hazard event that must be counteracted byautomatically disabling the vehicle to the extent that is movement ispositively halted and cannot be resumed until release action is taken bysomeone brought to the stop location.

To minimize danger to the driver, the invention provides means fordelaying disablement of the vehicle until a predetermined time haselapsed since the occurrence of the door-opening event. This time delaycan be made selectable and is in the order of about 15 minutes, so as toallow the hijackers to drive away from the interception point for somedistance before they are stopped, which in many cases will result in asafe separation of the driver from the hijackers.

The door-opening event is sensed by one or more switches that areactivated thereby to establish an alert signal that is applied to a timedelay controller. The time delay controller in turn establishes acommand signal at the given time delay after occurrence of the alertsignal event. This command signal operates a plurality of disablerdevices each effecting a distinct, but nondamaging, disablement upon thevehicle, any one disablement being sufficient to halt the vehicle.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, there are provideda pair of disabler devices, one of which is a solenoid valve thatoperates to shut-off the fuel feed to the propulsion engine of thevehicle, and the other disabler device is a solenoid .valve that activates the vehicle brakes by releasing pressurized air or other brakeoperating fluid. Most heavy trucks and trailer combinations have airbraking systems in which the wheel brakes are held in a released stateby pressurized air and should this air pressurization be lost, as

LII

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the drawing there is illustratedschematically a vehicle security system according to a preferredembodiment of the invention, which system is shown in a state ofreadiness.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT when intentionally braking thevehicle, the brakes are OF THE INVENTION In the drawing there isexemplified a security system 10 for a vehicle (not shown) having apropulsion engine P fed with fuel through a line 11, and equipped withan air braking system B in which release of pressurized air through avent line 12 results in operation of all wheel brake units (not shown)to halt the vehicle. Engine P and air brakes B can be of anyconventional prior art types that should be well known to the artisan.

Security system 10 includes an electric source that is expediently abattery E, a key-controlled master switch 101 that is normally closedwhen system 10 is in readiness, sensor switches 103, 104, a latchingrelay 105, a time delay relay 106, solenoid valves 107, 108 and a switch109 used for resetting latching relay 105.

The switches 103, 104 are disposed each one for activation by theopening of a corresponding vehicle cab door (not shown) and are normallyopen with system 10 set in readiness by closure of switch 101, which isdone after the vehicle occupants are in place within the cab and readyto start on a delivery ti'ip, subject to the operating rule that neitherof the two cab doors are to be voluntarily opened at any time during thetrip before arrival at the destination. Under such rule, opening of anyone or both sealed doors monitored by sensor switches 103, 104 willresult in the application of an alert signal being applied to theoperate coil K1 of relay 105. This alert signal is in the form of anenergizing current from battery E which is passed through coil K1 viathe signal transmission line defined by the pair of conductors 121 and122, the positive terminal of battery B being connected to coil K1through switch 101 in series with switch 103 and/or switch 104, andconductor 121, and the negative terminal of battery E being connected tocoil K1 through conductor 122.

Activation of relay by the alert signal occurs substantiallysimultaneously upon occurrence of the dooropening event and results inthe closure of switch contacts 123 and 124 of relay 105. The relay 105is of the latching type in which the armature is mechanically latched tomaintain contacts 123, 1241 closed, even though energization of theoperate coil K1 is subsequently terminated, as for example the openeddoor is closed and its switch 103, 104 is restored to the normally openstate. For resetting relay 105 there is provided as part thereof a resetcoil K2 which when energized by closing the normally open switch 109,unlatches the armature to restore contacts 123, 124 to their opencircuit states. Consequently, once the alert signal occurs, and untilswitch 109 closes, the conductors 125 and 126 are effectively connectedto the positive and negative terminals respectively of battery E toenergize the coil K3 of time delay relay 106.

The switch contacts 127 of relay 106 are connected to the positiveterminal of battery B through conductor 128 and switch 101, and areconnected to the operating coils L1, L2 of solenoid valves 107, 108,respectively, by a conductor 129 so that both valves 107, 108 areactivated by the closure of contacts 127 which occurs at a predeterminedtime delay after occurrence of the door-opening event manifested by thealert signal. The amount of time delay is a characteristic of relay 106itself and is expediently in the order of about fifteen minutes. Thereare many varieties of commercially available time delay relays,including those in which the delay time adjustable, and the choice of aparticular time delay relay 106 is left to the artisan.

At the end of the prescribed time delay, relay 106 contacts 127 close toestablish a command signal in the form of a current flowing in conductor129 and through both valve coils L1, L2 thereby concurrently activatingvalves 107 and 108.

Valve 107 is normally open and is installed in series with the fuelsupply line 11 such that activation of valve 107 shuts off the fuel feedto engine P, thereby halting the vehicle and disabling its capabilityfor selfpropulsion.

Valve 108 is normally closed and is installed in the air vent line 12such that activation of valve 108 releases the pressurized air in thebraking system B, thereby allowing the brake springs thereof (not shown)to automatically activate all wheel brakes to halt the vehicle and holdit in a brakes-locked condition so that it cannot be towed.

The foregoing description of a preferred embodiment of the invention ispresented for the purpose of exemplifying how the invention can beconstructed and operated using commonly available relays, switches andother components. It is recognized that, if desired, the artisan cansubstitute well known equivalent solid-state electronic circuits formany of the components and combinations thereof detailed herein, andthat such substitutions are contemplated by the invention.

In essence, the security system of the invention is predicated as onefor use on board a vehicle equipped with a fuel-fed propulsion engineand a braking system that can be conveniently set into a brakes-lockedstate.

System 10 itself can be regarded generally as the combination of asensor means, a control means, and at least one vehicle disabler. In theexample presented herein, the sensor means includes the door monitoringswitches 103, 104, but in general the sensor means can be constituted byany device or combination of devices capable of sensing the occurrenceof a security hazard event of the type that is to be counteracted bydisabling the vehicle to be protected. In response to such event, thesensor means must establish an alert signal in a form to'which thecontrol means can respond by establishing a command signal at a giventime delay after the event indicated by the alert signal. Each vehicledisabler means is coupled to the control means for control thereby andis operable to effect a predetermined disablement of the vehicle inresponse to the establishment of the command signal.

In system 10, the cooperating relays 105 and 106 can be regarded asdefining a time delay controller, relay 105 being activated directly bythe alert signal of the sensor means switches 103, 104, and relay 106being activated by relay 105.

The command signal resulting from operation of time delay relay 106 isalso the energizing current or voltage applied to the vehicle disablervalve coils L1, L2, and is of the same character as the alert signal topermit the expediency of using a single, common battery E for operatingall components of system 10.

What is claimed is:

l. A security system for a vehicle having a fuel-fed propulsion meansand a braking means which comprises a sensor means disposed to sense theopening of any sealed door of the vehicle, said door openingconstituting the occurrence of a security hazard event to becounteracted by disabling the vehicles, said sensor including at leastone main switch connected to an electric source, and operable toestablish an alert signal upon the occurrence of such event; a signaltransmission line connected to said main switch; means connected to saidtransmission line responsive to said alert signal for establishing acommand signal; at least one vehicle disabler means coupled to saidcommand means operable to effect a predetermined disablement of thevehicle in response to the establishment of said command signal andcontrol means interposed in said transmission line between said switchand said command means, said control means includes a latching relaycomprising an armature and a pair of activating coils, one of said coilsbeing connected to said transmission line to cause said armature to movein a first direction on closing of said switch, the other of said coilsbeing connected directly to said electric source and being provided withswitch means to cause said armature to move in a direction opposite tosaid first direction, armature being adapted to close a set of contactsto said command means on movement in said first direction and to opensaid set of contacts on movement in said opposite direction, and a timedelay relay interposed between the armature contacts and said commandsignal means to delay the transmission of an alert signal from said mainswitch to said command signal means.

2. A security system according to claim 1 wherein said vehicle disablermeans includes a valve operable in response to said command signal tointerrupt the feeding of fuel to the vehicle propulsion means.

3. A security system according to claim 1 wherein said vehicle disablermeans includes a valve coupled to the braking means of the vehicle andoperable in response to said command signal to activate said brakingmeans and thereby halt the vehicle.

4. A security system according to claim 1 including a plurality ofvehicle disabler means coupled to said control means for simultaneouscontrol thereby, one of said disabler means including a valve operablein response to said command signal to interrupt the feeding of fuel tothe vehicle propulsion means, another of said disabler means including avalve coupled to the braking means of the vehicle and operable inresponse to said command signal to activate said braking means, wherebyupon establishment of the command signal a plurality of distinctdisablements are effected upon the vehicle, any one disablement beingsufficient to halt the vehicle.

5. A security system according to claim 1 wherein said predetermineddisablement of the vehicle occurs while the vehicle is in motion.

* I! i i

1. A security system for a vehicle having a fuel-fed propulsion meansand a braking means which comprises a sensor means disposed to sense theopening of any sealed door of the vehicle, said door openingconstituting the occurrence of a security hazard event to becounteracted by disabling the vehicles, said sensor including at leastone main switch connected to an electric source, and operable toestablish an alert signal upon the occurrence of such event; a signaltransmission line connected to said main switch; means connected to saidtransmission line responsive to said alert signal for establishing acommand signal; at least one vehicle disabler means coupled to saidcomMand means operable to effect a predetermined disablement of thevehicle in response to the establishment of said command signal andcontrol means interposed in said transmission line between said switchand said command means, said control means includes a latching relaycomprising an armature and a pair of activating coils, one of said coilsbeing connected to said transmission line to cause said armature to movein a first direction on closing of said switch, the other of said coilsbeing connected directly to said electric source and being provided withswitch means to cause said armature to move in a direction opposite tosaid first direction, armature being adapted to close a set of contactsto said command means on movement in said first direction and to opensaid set of contacts on movement in said opposite direction, and a timedelay relay interposed between the armature contacts and said commandsignal means to delay the transmission of an alert signal from said mainswitch to said command signal means.
 2. A security system according toclaim 1 wherein said vehicle disabler means includes a valve operable inresponse to said command signal to interrupt the feeding of fuel to thevehicle propulsion means.
 3. A security system according to claim 1wherein said vehicle disabler means includes a valve coupled to thebraking means of the vehicle and operable in response to said commandsignal to activate said braking means and thereby halt the vehicle.
 4. Asecurity system according to claim 1 including a plurality of vehicledisabler means coupled to said control means for simultaneous controlthereby, one of said disabler means including a valve operable inresponse to said command signal to interrupt the feeding of fuel to thevehicle propulsion means, another of said disabler means including avalve coupled to the braking means of the vehicle and operable inresponse to said command signal to activate said braking means, wherebyupon establishment of the command signal a plurality of distinctdisablements are effected upon the vehicle, any one disablement beingsufficient to halt the vehicle.
 5. A security system according to claim1 wherein said predetermined disablement of the vehicle occurs while thevehicle is in motion.